Love is accidental
by Creamy Chessnut
Summary: Ron is a third class Passenger on Titanic, who falls for 1st class Hermione Granger. Will their love overcome her parents, Cedric Diggory, his insecurities, and the sinking? Complete! R/Hr


You see her from a distance. She's up on the first class deck, standing alone, her arms on the railings.

She's around 18.

You watch her intently, your eyes fixed on a stray brown curl hanging on her cheek, having fallen out of her bun. She doesn't seem interested in the conversations around her, and her brown eyes are looking out, straight forward, at the world around her.

She's beautiful. There's no denying it.

"Ron, your staring," Harry mutters, and you blush, tearing her eyes away from her.

You hear Ginny giggling, and you stamp on her foot.

"Shut up," you whisper harshly.

It's your first night on Titanic, and you can't get her out of your head.

You're laying on the top bunk, staring at the ceiling, and you feel ruined. Until that moment, you have felt legendary, as if you were on top of the world. But seeing her, in her emerald green dress and matching hat, made you realize that no matter what, you would never be good enough for the likes of her. With her rich Father and snotty Mother, what would she be looking for that you had?

You sigh and roll over.

You're being stupid. You're crazy about a girl who you've never even spoke to. Get a grip.

You wake up feeling slightly better, and make friends with many other third class passengers. Neville, Seamus and Dean, Lee and Katie. There's so many people, are you already feel like one big family.

You feel excited about going to America. You're parents went out there two months ago to get settled, and you really miss them. You can't wait to see them.

Fred and George, your older twin brothers, decide to go snooping, and drag you and Harry along. Somehow, which you are completely oblivious to, you end up in a first class corridor.

You're walking past one of the doors, when it suddenly opens.

Fred, George and Harry run for their lives, screaming with laughter, but you remain frozen to the floor in sheer shock.

The person is 'Her'.

You recognise her brown hair, and your eyes fix on that curl. Once again, it's there. She's not wearing a hat this time, but her hair is still up in a bun.

She's so much prettier up close, and it shocks you. Her eyes are warm, a shade of brown reminding you of hot chocolate. It's a moment before you realize she has asked you a question.

"Well?" She demands, folding her arms.

She has a bossy sort of voice, and you like it.

"Sorry, what?" You say, slightly embarrassed.

She frowns, and tucks her curl behind her ear.

"I asked you why you are here..are you looking for someone?"

"I-wha-?-Me-look-someone-no?"

"What?" She asks impatiently, and looking slightly confused. She's quite small, and her head comes up to your nose.

"N-no, I'm not looking for anyone.. I was just.."

"Looking around, I see?"

You nod, shifting your weight from leg to leg.

"Well, I must ask how you got up here? I must have words with these guards." She frowns.

Your heart falls a little. She's like the rest of them. She just see's you as some poor guy, someone who shouldn't matter.

"Afterall, they have denied me entrance to the third class deck a few times."

Your head shoots up. "You wanted to go the the third class deck?"

"Yes, I thought it would be a little more- wait, this is none of you business! Just tell me, how did you get through?" Her bossy voice is back, and you smirk. You really do love it.

You smirk, and lean against the wall. "It's none of your business."

Her head raises a little higher. "I believe I have every right to know!"

You laugh. "Not really.. like it's none of my business why a rich girl wants to hang out with the poor people, right?" Two can play at that game.

She glares at you. "Fine! I cannot believe this, but I feel completely lonely on this stupid ship. All these people talk about is money and business and wealth, and I am sick of it!" As she rants on, the curl she tucked behind her ear flys out, regaining it's place on her cheek.

You nod along as if you understand what she is saying, which of course, you don't.

"And I need a bit of time where I can let my hair down before I am married off to some wealthy business partner of my Fathers, who my Mother believes suitable! Once I am in America, my life will change, and I'll be some girl who is married to a rich business man! I will stay at home and not do anything, letting my life waste away, so before that happens, I want to experience life!"

"Right, okay.. well, I'm sorry, but I don't know how I ended up here.. My Brothers sort of found a way somehow." You feel slightly bad, her having telling you the full story, and you having nothing to tell her in return.

She looks on the verge on tears. "You tricked me!"

"No I didn't!" You say defensively. "I never made you tell me anything, nor did I say I would explain anything!" It makes you feel slightly better, but not by much.

"You implied that you knew!"

"Fine, fine, I'm guiltly." You shrug, and pull your cap of your head. You bow, and say, "I'm sorry your highness."

"No! Didn't you listen to a word I said!" She's angry, and you know it, but then again, you think it's kind of funny.

You roll your eyes.

"Look, you're rich! You've got everything in the world, and your complaining? Me, I got nothin'. Not a single gold coin. The only clothes I own are the ones I'm wearing, the only worry I have is where my family are gonna stay when we reach the states. My Mum and Dad have got a place, yeah, but it's not big enough for all my family. There's seven kids, and I know we aint got any money. Then, my best mates with us, and it's all complicated. You have problems, and I understand, but I do too."

She looks stunned, and catiously bites her lip. "Right, sorry for loading my problems on you, Mr..?"

"Weasley, Ronald Weasley. But you can call me Ron."

You extend your hand, and she shakes it. Her hand is soft and it fits perfectly in your own.

"Hermione, Hermione Granger."

You smile a little, and she smiles prettily back. "I am sorry," she says, and you shrug it off.

"It's fine, seriously."

You turn and walk away, but stop. You turn back quickly.

"If you ever need anything..room 507. And about the gaurd.. you'll find a way around him. I have faith in you."

You wink, and walk off.

The next day, you're reading over an old magazine, when you hear someone knock at the door.

The knocking is loud and urgent, and you open it quickly.

Standing before you in Hermione.

From the look of her, she's been running. You move aside as she enters quickly, and you close the door.

"They've found him, Father wants me to meet him tonight, and Mother approves of him and everything is getting worse and worse an-"

You press a finger to her lips, preventing her from continuing. You are touched that she actually remembered you, and you smile a little on the inside.

"Breathe," you whisper.

She nods, and slowly calms down. Then, she talks again.

"His name is Cedric, Cedric Diggory, and Father works with his Father, and he's two years older than me, and Mother says he's very nice, and he probably is, but I can't marry him, I can't, I can't, I can't!"

She breaks down in tears, and you awkwardly put an arm around her shoulder. She pulls out her hair from her trade-mark bun, and curls casade around her shoulders. She burries her face in your chest, and you gently hold her while she cries. It feels like heaven, and you never want to stop holding her. You fingers delicately stroke her back, occasionally brushing her soft curls. Her fingers curl around your neck, and you sigh.

She sobs for a while, before pulling back, her tear-stained face red and her eyes puffy.

"You're suppose to marry somebody because you love them, aren't you?" She asks, one she has calmed down, and you nod."

"Then why are they making me do this!" She shouts, and a few tears leak from the corners of her eyes. You brush them away, and she looks at you with s strange look on her face. You think she's going to shout at you, or get freaked by your actions, but she just gives you a soft smile, another tear falling down her cheek.

"Calm down," you whisper. "You might fall in love with this guy."

"But I don't want to fall in love with someone on purpose! I want it to be an accident, when you're not thinking.." she trails off, sending a glance your way. "I want to fall in love with someone accidentally."

"I know, but this Cedric, he, he might be the one." It hurts you to say it. You barely know her, but you feel deeply for her already.

"H-he can't be. I'm not marrying o-one of them." Her eyes leave yours, and she sighs heavily.

You smile and hug her again.

You hold her for a while until she stops crying again. Once she's pulled back, and you see that she looks fine, you begin to talk, changing the subject.

"So, how did you get away from the guards?"

She laughs, and you think it's beautiful.

"I told him that there was a fight a few corridors away, so he left. But after a while, I heard him come running down after me, so I started running."

"Interesting," you say, smirking.

"Oh shut up," she mutters, but smiles all the same. "I thought I was going to fall or something.."

She looks around your room, and you blush. It's small, and stuffy.

"I know, it's probably nothing compared to your room."

She shakes her head. "No.. but I think it's brilliant!"

She begins nosing around, and pulls out your old chess board.

"You like chess." It's a statement, not a question, like she's talking out-loud to herself.

"Yup, I'm the best; I doubt you could beat me." It's true, you're not lying. You're the champion of your house, the champion of your street! She could not beat you.

She arches one eyebrow, and you laugh.

"Really? You're on!"

You play 5 games, and she can't beat you. She's getting frustrated, you can see it in her eyes. Each time she loses, her eyes get slightly darker. It's funny. Through the games, you talk about life and your childhood, and you even casually flirt. What's the funniest thing, is that she flirts back, making comments such as, "You must be strong," and "I do like freckles". It's not much, and you sense she's teasing, but it's fun, and her compliments make you feel good.

"Ha!" She says,her eyes lighting up when she checks your king on the sixth game, bringing you back to reality. Her knight is next to your king. You roll your eyes, and examine the board.

"Haha!" You say, when you see something she didn't, move your queen diagonally, and corner her king. "Check and Mate!"

"Well done," she grumbles, frowning, as the door opens.

Harry wanders in, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Hey Ron, Fred and George were loo-"

He stops when he realizes that Hermione is in the room with you, and you stare at the floor, your ears turning red. You hadn't told Harry about your encounter with her yesterday, but now you know you have to. You really enjoyed her company, especially the flirting.

"Hi," he says to Hermione, and you notice his grin. His green eyes are bright with excitement, and you feel like kicking him.

"Oh, hello," she says, clearly embarrassed. "I was just going- thanks Ron-bye." She hurries out of the room quickly, and you fall back.

"So?" Harry says, and you kick him in the shins.

You tell Harry, and surprisingly, he takes it seriously.

"So, she's being forced to marry some guy, and spent the day hiding out in here?"

"Yeah," you mumble. "And it's some guy named Cedric Diggory."

"Wow!" Harry stands up. "Cedric Diggory? As in son of Amos Diggory?"

You shrug. "Probably. How many Diggory familys can there be?" It's not a popular name like Smith or Jones.

"But, Ron, you do realize who Amos Diggory is!?" Harry looks at you with wide eyes.

You frown. "No, who?" The name is familiar and you know you have heard it somewhere..

"The founder and owner of Diggory's law firm! They have millions, billions even! They were in the paper!"

Harry rumages through his rucksack, and pulls out a two day old paper.

"'Amos Diggory and son, Cedric Diggory, announce their departure to America. Amos, right, and Cedric, left, will be leaving their home country of Great Britain tomorrow, on the Titanic, Amos confirms.' It's them, I'm telling you."

You , you really don't have a chance.

"So, it's not a bad choice. Cedric's said to be smart, kind and he's only 20! They haven't exactly picked her a tosser, eh?" Harry's trying to cheer you up, but it doesn't work.

When you don't reply, he senses somethings up.

"You like this girl, I take it?" He mutters, sitting back down.

You nod. "Alot. I've only known her barely two days, yet I feel as if I have been speaking to her my whole life, as if I've met her before. But it's strange, because I would remember meeting her. I..I really like her." Your head falls into your hands.

Harry sighs. "Look mate..if it's meant to be, it's meant to be; trust me."

So you do.

After dinner, you sit up on the deck and watch the stars. You're thinking about Hermione and that Cedric guy, when you hear two voices. Peering over your shoulder, you see Hermione. And sure enough. Cedric. You remember him from the photo. He is handsome, and looks intelligent.

She's holding onto his arm. And smiling. Really smiling. Cedric's smiling too.

She doesn't see you, but she keeps her eyes fixed on Cedric.

You hear snippets of their conversation.

"Dad reckons we'll make it big, but I'm not too sure; we had everything in England, I just hope we're not throwing it all away," Cedric is saying, and you see Hermione nod.

"Well, it most probably will work. I've heard of your Fathers propostions and cases, and it seems very good indeed."

"Yes, well I hope it stays good."

They take a seat on a bench on the oposite side of the deck from yours, and you can no longer hear their conversation.

You watch them talk, and watch her laugh. It seems funny that not four hours ago, you were comforting her as she cried about meeting this guy.

You watch Cedric lean in and kiss her, and you freeze.

Your eyes are transfixed.

At first, she does nothing.

Then, she pulls away.

"I'm really sorry Cedric, but I only see of you as a friend. Mother made me swear to try and think of your differently, but I can't. I can't fall in love with someone because my parents wish me too. Love is accidental."

You listened really intently, and you managed to hear her words.

Cedric is stunned, and you watch as she gets up and walks away.

It's the 13th of April, and you're still in shock. You were certain, _certain, _she would fall in love with Cedric and have little Cedric babies, but she doesn't love him. She doesn't. You heard her. You heard her say she thinks of him as a friend.

Harry, Fred and George want to go looking around, and they ask you to go, but you refuse. Harry gives you a knowing smile.

Ginny bothers you for an hour or two, before getting bored and goes off somewhere you couldn't care where.

You wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Until, finally!

There's that knock at the door.

You open it, and sure enough, as beautiful as ever, Hermione is standing there before you, in a stunning light blue gown, and matching hat.

"Good Afternoon, Ron!" She says with a smile. "May I come in?"

You nod, and she walks in, taking off her hat.

"How was dinner?" You ask innocently, as if you hadn't heard the conversation last night.

She grins. "Good, and Cedric was very nice, but I'd rather not marry him."

"Oh, really?"

She arches an eyebrow. "I know you heard the conversation last night Ronald, I noticed you a while before you noticed me and Cedric."

You're eyes widen.

"It's fine, most of that conversation was for your benefit anyway," she says casually, taking a seat on the floor. You mimick her actions.

"What?"

"The whole 'accidental love' thing. I raised my voice because I wanted you to hear it."

"Why?"

She blushes, and looks down at her hands. "I don't know why, but I feel like I've known you a very long time...and when I saw you, I, I felt something. Something, something good. Something.. accidental."

Her eyes lock with yours, and your breathing gets heavier.

"I felt..I felt safe and happy.. and that's why I let myself go abit with you..I think I.." She pauses, and takes a breath.

"I've known you two days, well sort of three, but I, I, there's something about you.. and I think I'm in love with you." You are shocked. She felt it too. You thought it was just mindless flirting to her, but she felt it.

Her face is close to yours. You reach up a hand, and cup her cheek. Then you kiss her.

It's soft and sweet and everything you thought it would be and more. You're holding her waist and her hands are in your hair. You reach your hands up, and gently unclip her hair, and when it drops on her shoulders, you mess your hand in it.

You pull back and rest your forehead on hers.

"I love you too."

She smiles prettily, before dragging your lips back to hers.

You're still in shock. You're laying up in bed, awake, in shock. Hermione said she loves you.

And you said it back.

She left when she had to get ready for dinner, but before she went, you talked and talked and talked. She told you of her dreams and her fears, and you did the same thing.

And you know, you just know, that it's meant to be.

You're in her room. She came and dragged you off to it on the afternoon of the 14th of April.

It's massive, like a house.

A bedroom, a sitting room, a proper bathroom, everything.

You're on the sofa, and you're kissing.

It's mental and beautiful at the same time. Here you are, with a rich girl who loves you, and you're snogging her.

Then it properly hits you.

A rich girl.

A. Rich. Girl.

You pull back.

Her face is flushed and her lips are swollen, and she looks irrestible.

"We can't do this," you whisper, running a light finger down her cheek.

"What?" She mumbles, leaning away from you, confused.

"This, we can't."

"Why?" She asks, sounding hurt.

"We're from two different worlds. You're rich and well off, and I'm well, not. Remember what I said when I saw you? The only clothes I've got are the one's I'm wearing, and I've never held a note in my hand."

She gets up, and walks over to a box. She pulls out a note, around 10 bucks, and hands it to you.

"Now you've held a note in your hand," she says simply, and you roll your eyes, passing it back to her.

"You know what I mean! I'm not good enough for you! Your parents wouldn't look twice at me, let alone give their blessing for us to share any kind of relationship. This won't work."

She gives you a knowing look, and scoots closer. "I'm 18. And I'm in love. And no can stop me from doing what I want to do! I don't care that you don't have much money, because love isn't about money and businesses. Love is about love. And real love..real love is when you marry someone and love them for who they are, not because they have millions in the bank, or because they are of high class. You love someone because of the person they are... love isn't set up.. it happens when you least expect it. Like I said, love is accidental.

"My Parents married because my Grandfather thought my Father was suitable for my Mother. Not because they were in love. Of course, they ended up falling in love, but that wasn't why they were married. I don't want to marry some rich guy, no matter how nice he is. If I marry someone, it will be because I love them, and not for another other reason."

She pauses her speech, and looks at you, biting her lip.

"And to prove this to you, I am going to go against my parents in every way.." she pauses again, and quickly kisses you, before continuing. "For I am going to give you something that no one else is ever, _ever, _going to get."

Before you can say a single word, she's kissing you with every ounce of passion in her body.

You walk along the corridor, hand in hand with Hermione, completely shocked at what you had just done.

You had never done that before. Not ever. You had been brought up taught strictly that you never did that until you were married.

And now you had.

With Hermione.

You chance a look at her. You made her put her hair back up before you left the room, despite her saying it wasn't nessecary.

She sees you looking at you, and smirks. "It's fine Ronald," she says, and you blush.

"But-what if-I-"

"Ron, it's done now, and if I say so myself, you seemed willing."

You blush deeper. "That's not the point! We shouldn't have done th-"

"Hermione?" It's an unfamiliar voice, but you can tell straight away whose it is.

You both freeze.

You feel your hand go sweaty, and Hermione's face pales. She looks at you, before turning.

"Hello Mother," she says, in a falsely cheery tone.

Her Mother looks similar to her. Curly brown hair, a few freckles. But her eyes seem colder, and her nose is different. Then you realize it's Hermione's nose, but her Mother has hers high in the air, looking down on others.

"What are you doing with, with him?!" Her eyes flicker towards you, and then down to your entwined hands.

"Mother, this is Ronald Weasley. He, well, we are somewhat of an item." Her hand holds tightly onto yours, and you squeeze hers reassuringly. You seem slightly giddy when she refers to you as being an 'item' with her.

"What? This is absurb! Hermione, this boy is of third class!" Her eyes drift down your clothes, and her noise raises higher.

Hermione furrows her brow. "That does not mean he is not kind or ill mannered, Mother."

"What about Cedric?"

Hermione laughed. "Cedric? There's nothing there, not the slightest spark. He is nice, Mother, I give you that, but a boy must be more than nice for me to love him." You're more than that? You wonder what you have that Cedric doesn't.

"And you love this boy, do you?"

"Yes, Mother, I do."

"What has he done to you! Brainwashed you! He cannot love you back!"

Hermione glares at her. "Brainwashed me? This is me, and it always has been. You don't even know your own daughter. And as for whether or not he loves me, he does!"

Hermione turns, pulling you with her. "Bye Mother!" She calls, and you leave her Mother alone in shock.

You wander around, and night falls. You're hungry, but you're also worried about Hermione. You know she won't go down to the 1st class alone.

In the end, she changes into a blue dress of Ginny's, one of Ginny's best, and in return, she gives Ginny the dress she had been wearing, and Ginny gets excited.

After you have eaten, where nobody suspected a single thing, you all go back down the the third class 'party' room.

You and Hermione dance, not some of the ballroom crap, but lively and energetic dancing, where nobody knows the steps. You're so focused on Hermione, that you don't even mind Harry and Ginny dancing. For a second.

At around 11, you and Hermione head up to the deck. You sit on the bench together and watch the stars. You pretend to listen while Hermione talks of constellations, and she hits you when she finds out you're not paying attention. You kiss her, and lead a trail of kisses down to her neck, until she is no longer mad.

That's when it happens. Hermione's talking when you notice it. Straight ahead. An iceberg.

You jump up.

"Hermione!" She jumps up at the tone of your voice, and looks to where you are pointing. The iceberg is a mere 10 meters from the ship.

It smashes against it, and ice breaks onto the ship. You pull Hermione back, your eyes wide.

Titanic has struck.

You race down to find Harry, Ginny, Fred and George. Harry's in bed asleep, and you quickly wake him, before turning on Fred and George; Hermione wakes up Ginny.

You are running, about to get up on deck, when Hermione pulls you back.

"My parents," she whispers.

You leave the others, and follow Hermione as she races to her room. Along the corridor, crew members are waking up passengers, and your heart falls. This is really happening.

You can't find her parents, and Hermione starts worrying.

"Sshhh," you whisper. "They'll be fine, they're first class."

Eventually, after half an hour of convincing, you head back up to the deck.

It's mayhem. By the amount of time you had spent below, everyone seemed to have dashed up.

Life boats were already being lowered.

You glance towards the bow of the ship, you see it is already filling up with water, the front slowly going down.

You glance towards Hermione.

"You're getting in a boat!"

She looks at you. "What?"

"You're getting in a boat; now!"

You grab her hand, and pull her towards a life boat.

"Excuse me sir, can we get in?" You ask politely.

"She can," he says in a gruff voice, indicating Hermione. "But you can't. Women and Children first; Captain's orders."

"Okay," you say, and turn to her. "Get in, and I'll see when we can get on."

"No," she says firmly. "I'm not going without you."

"Well, I can't get in yet," you say, rolling your eyes.

"Then I can't get in yet!" She says stubbornly.

"Hermione, come on! It's going down!"

"I know Ronald, I can see that!" She hisses, flaring up.

"Just get in, please!"

"No!" She folds her arms.

"Hermione!"

"No! I am not getting in! I am not leaving you, do you understand!"

"Hermione!"

"Do you understand!"

"No, I-"

She cuts you off by kissing you, and you winningly accept.

You race up towards the stern of the ship, as it slowly goes under. You see Harry on his own, and run towards him.

"Where's Ginny!" You say, looking at him with wide eyes.

"She got on a boat."

"Fred? George?"

"George got on with her, and I don't know where Fred's gone."

"How come George got on? Women and-"

"Women and Children first I know. But Ginny's 16, so they let George on, because she isn't an adult." Harry looks worriedly.

You sigh angrily. "What are we going to do! Hermione won't get on a sodding boat, and we can't get on!"

"Why won't you get on?" Harry askes her, frowning.

Hermione looks at you. "Couldn't leave him," she mumbles.

You roll your eyes, but kiss her cheek gently. You vow to yourself that whatever happens, you will get her in a boat.

The ship's rising up high, and panic esculates. The last of the boats are going down.

"Please Hermione, please get in!" You beg, pleading with her.

"No."

"Please!"

"No!"

"Look, if you get in the boats, there is more chance I will survive, and do you want me to survive?"

She looks at you, and gently gives a nod of her head.

"Then, get in, and the chance I will survive is higher!"

"How is it?" She demands, folding her arms, and raising an eyebrow.

"Because, knowing your safe will help me! But while you're with me, I'm, I'm worrying about you, a-and I'm not thinking straight! With you on a boat, I know that I have to survive to get back to you! I don't want you to die because of a guy you have known 4 days."

She frowns. "You're not just 'some guy'. I love you."

"And I love you, but unless you get in a boat, I'm in a lot of danger and so are you. Please, get in a boat. I'll survive!"

Reluctantly, she allows you to lead her towards a boat.

Just before she gets in, she turns to you. "Promise you'll get off here alive," she whispers.

You nod and gently kiss her. "I promise."

She kisses you one last time, before stepping into the boat.

"Don't forget I love you," she says, and you say it back.

The ship is going down, and you can't find Harry. You lost him when you put Hermione in a boat.

You can't find Fred. You haven't seen him since you woke him up.

And the promise you made to Hermione is dying inside of you.

You do the only thing you can think of.

And jump.

You jump off the side of the rail, and plunge into the water below.

The water is ice cold, below freezing, and it hits you like a million knives stabbing into your body.

A surge of power pushes you upwards, instead of pulling you down like you had expected.

You struggle, your fingers searching for the surface, clawing away at the water.

Finally, your heads breaks through.

You gasp for breaths, and start swimming, the water piercing you every time you move. You have to keep moving, to keep your heart pumping.

Others are in the water, everyone desperately trying to find a boat.

Most boats are far ahead.

You keep swimming.

You're getting really cold.

Cold like this, it's unreal. You never thought water could be this cold.

You're beginning to give up hope.

When you see it.

Five others are around it, and it's overturned.

It's an overturned life boat.

Struggling against the powers of the cold water, you keep swimming ahead, and you reach it.

With all your might, you help turn it over.

Everyone begins trying to clammer in, and you help up a young girl around the age of 16. Another person, you don't know who, pulls you into the lifeboat.

You fall into the lifeboat, your clothes soaked right down to your bone. You feel people shivering beside you, and you pull of your coat.

You want to die.

You see the ship go down, barely. You don't know who, but someone started rowing with something, maybe an old door.

Morning comes slowly, but even with the sun, you are still in darkness.

Your clothes are still ice cold.

Eventually, you see it. A grand ship like Titanic, and before you know it, you're on board, and a towel is wrapped around you. It's 'The Carpathia' or something.

Still shivering, you set off looking for anyone you know.

You can't find anyone, not yet, and you begin to panic.

Crowds are here and there, and you try and glimpse everyone's face, but it's hopeless.

You collapse onto a bench, the only other person sitting on it at the opposite end, and hidden under a towel.

You pull your towel off, and rub your hands, and casually glimpse over to the person on the side of you.

And you realize it's her.

She's crying.

"Hermione," you whisper her name ever so softly, and she jumps, turning towards you.

"Ron!"

She jumps into your arms, sitting in your lap, wrapping her arms tight around you.

"I thought-I thought-" she stutters out.

"Sshh," you whisper. "I wasn't going to break my promise, was I?" You decide against reminding yourself of your doubts a few hours ago.

You feel her silent sobs, and pull back just enough so you can kiss her. "I love you," you mumble against her lips.

"I love you too."

It's a year later.

You discovered that Ginny and George made it safely, but Harry and Fred.. they were never found. You don't like to think about it.

Hermione's Mother survived, but her Father didn't. Niether did Amos Diggory. However, Cedric surivived, and you discovered that it was him who pulled you up into the life boat, and you owe him your life.

The year was hard. Hermione stayed with you for a while, before eventually moving back in with her Mother. But she stayed with you, and you are hopelessly in love.

As times goes on, things change. Ginny becomes involved with Cedric, lonely after the loss of Harry, and George connects with an American girl called Angelina.

You and Hermione are doing well, and two years after the sinking, you are married, with, luckily, her Mother's permission. It's beautiful, and everyday you think God that you survived so you could be with her. And you even thank him for giving you the oppurtunity to ride Titanic.

You're daughter is born in 1917, and, after many arguments, you decide to call her Rose. You're son is born two years later.

The years slowly build up, and soon Ginny and Cedric's children, Harry, Freya and Elizabeth, join your two.

You don't realize how quick time has gone, until you hear a hushed conversation between your 16 year old daughter and your beautiful wife of 19 years.

"What do I do Mum.. he wants this.. he wants this a lot, but I am not too sure. I don't think of him that way.. but I might a little later, mightn't I?"

You hear Hermione sigh. "Don't plan ahead Rose. You cannot force love, it happens. In a year or two, you may love him, but you cannot count on that."

"Well, what shall I do?"

"Wait. Love will come at it's own pace."

"But what if it never happens?"

"It will.."

"But, what if it doesn't.. even if I wait for me to fall in love with him, wouldn't it be worth it?"

"You cannot force love, Rose."

"I know, but.."

"Listen Rose.."

And then she says it. You smile as you remember the last time she said them words, and realize that it has been over twenty years.

"..love is accidental."


End file.
